ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理科学进展 ›› 2022, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (2): 406-413.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.00406

• 研究前沿 • 上一篇    下一篇

社交媒体使用对执行功能的影响:有益还是有害?

麻雅洁1,2, 赵鑫1,2(), 贺相春3(), 任丽萍1,2   

  1. 1甘肃省行为与心理健康重点实验室
    2西北师范大学心理学院
    3西北师范大学教育技术学院, 兰州 730070
  • 收稿日期:2021-04-28 出版日期:2022-02-15 发布日期:2021-12-24
  • 通讯作者: 赵鑫,贺相春 E-mail:psyzhaoxin@nwnu.edu.cn;hxc@nwnu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金(31560283);国家自然科学基金(62167007);教育部人文社会科学研究项目(21XJA190005);甘肃省“双一流”科研重点项目(GSSYLXM-01);西北师范大学重大科研项目培育计划(NWNU-SKZD2021-06)

The impact of social media on executive functions: Beneficial or harmful?

MA Yajie1,2, ZHAO Xin1,2(), HE Xiangchun3(), REN Liping1,2   

  1. 1Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health of Gansu province, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
    2School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
    3School of Educational Technical, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
  • Received:2021-04-28 Online:2022-02-15 Published:2021-12-24
  • Contact: ZHAO Xin,HE Xiangchun E-mail:psyzhaoxin@nwnu.edu.cn;hxc@nwnu.edu.cn

摘要:

社交媒体使用对执行功能的影响尚存争议, 这与社交媒体使用强度起到的调节作用有关。中等强度的社交媒体使用会产生社交媒体心流体验, 使注意集中于目标信息, 并为个体提供了持续不断的社会奖励和情感支持, 对执行功能有益, 但高、低强度社交媒体使用则会损害执行功能。今后该领域的研究应该探讨社交媒体使用影响执行功能的“剂量效应”以及社交媒体使用类型对执行功能的具体影响, 还应关注不同认知水平的个体, 以进一步明确社交媒体使用与执行功能发展的关系。

关键词: 社交媒体, 执行功能, 心流体验

Abstract:

The effect of social media on executive functions remain controversial. Some studies have shown that the use of social media promotes an individual’s executive functions, and some studies have found that social media use has a negative impact on executive functions. Recent studies have shown that, there may be an inverted U-shaped relationship between social media use and individual's executive function, and that social media use does not necessarily impair or promote executive function, but there is an optimal tipping point between the two. Moderate-intensity use of social media is the best level to promote executive functions. This is related to the moderating role played by the intensity of use. The paper first introduces the behavioral evidence that the effect of social media on executive functions, including three parts: positive effects, negative effects, and inverted U-shaped relationships. Secondly, it analyzes the moderating effect of intensity of use in the inverted U-shaped relationship between social media use and executive functions, and attempt to reveal the debate over the pros and cons of social media use on executive functions. Moderate-intensity use of social media will produce a social media flow experience, allowing individuals to filter out various distracting information when faced with various complex information stimuli in social media, focusing on useful information, and target information is constantly being affected. With storage and update, the individual's executive functions (especially the shifting function) get long-term and repeated exercise under such requirements, and finally improve. In addition, the flow experience generated by the use of social media can be used as an intrinsic motivation to increase the interaction of social networks to make positive changes in interpersonal relationships. This provides individuals with continuous social rewards and emotional support. To a certain extent, it buffers the negative impact of excessive use of social media on cognitive function, and slows down the decline of age-related executive functions. However, high-intensity use of social media causes individuals to worry about their performance in the task, which tends to maintain a wider range of attention and is more susceptible to interference from irrelevant information, while low-intensity use of social media causes individuals to be in a state of lack of proactiveness, the psychological effort process of information processing is reduced or even disappeared, which has a negative impact on executive functions.

Future research in this area should examine the dose-effect of social media use affecting executive functions. The positive impact of social media use on the executive function may require a relatively long and continuous process of using social media. Whether an optimal social media can be determined the level of media usage maximizes individual's executive functions? In addition, previous research mainly focuses on the impact of social media usage frequency on individual's executive functions in daily life, but lacks a single sub-component of the type of social media usage on the executive function investigation of development and changes. In the future, the relationship between different types of social media usage and sub-components of executive function should be further clarified. Finally, the lifting effect of social media may be more significant in groups whose brain structure is in a period of change. Most previous studies only show that the use of social media can change individual's neural pathways or brain response patterns (and little is known about whether changes in the physiological structure of executive function have an impact on the cognitive level of social media users. Future research should combine behavioral and cognitive neurological methods to examine the brain regions of social media users with different cognitive levels in performing specific tasks. The difference in activation makes the neural mechanism of social media use affecting executive function more precise and comprehensive.

Key words: social media, executive function, flow experience

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